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Muschamp: Bentley, Gamecocks must stay balanced offensively against Vols

When Will Muschamp spoke after last Saturday’s six-point victory over UMass about tougher challenges awaiting true freshman quarterback Jake Bentley, he wasn’t kidding.

Comparing UMass and Tennessee, the opponent Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium (7:15 p.m., ESPN2), in terms of the athletes on defense, there is undeniably little comparison.

Will Muschamp has a record of 4-0 vs. Tennessee as a head coach.
Will Muschamp has a record of 4-0 vs. Tennessee as a head coach. (Gamecock Central)
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Even though the Vols rank just No. 9 in the SEC in total defense (426.3 yards per game), Bentley will face a unit in his second career start that is bigger, stronger and faster than the Minutemen. Bentley should have less time to scan the field in the dropback passing game and the throwing windows will be narrower.

Lack of preparation on Bentley’s part, though, won’t be a problem for Muschamp and the Gamecock offense.

“One of his talents is his preparation and workmanlike attitude,” Muschamp said Tuesday during his weekly press conference at Williams-Brice Stadium. “I asked him today on the field, ‘How much film did you get in yesterday?’ and he said, ‘About two and a half hours. That’s what you want your quarterback to do. His preparation is really good as well as Brandon (McIlwain) and the rest of our group.”

Bentley carried the ball four times against UMass. He may need to double that number Saturday in an effort to keep the Tennessee defense off-balance by becoming a legitimate option in the running game.

Even the zone read isn’t off the table.

“I feel good with that. Jake’s a much better athlete than we probably give him credit for,” Muschamp said. “He can run, he will run. We do have some things in the read game that certainly he can run. We had some zone reads called the other day, but they were give reads. We have a good comfort level of him running.”

Muschamp said offensive coordinator Kurt Roper protected Bentley somewhat in his debut last Saturday by running the ball 23 times on 32 first down plays. However, Muschamp believes first down is a great opportunity to throw vertically down the field and loosen up the defense for the run game.

“For me, it’s always about balance in what you’re doing,” Muschamp said. “I am always looking for 1st down shots downfield because that’s when most defenses are going to create the run box and, generally, that’s where you’re going to get your 50-50 opportunities downfield. That’s one of the very few things I say on game day on offense, ‘Let’s take a shot here. Let’s stretch the field.’”

Offensive balance and unpredictable play-calling is key to keeping most defenses from focusing strictly on the run or the pass, and lining up accordingly, especially against a defense like Tennessee, which has plentiful weapons.

Junior defensive end Derek Barnett has terrorized the Gamecocks the past couple of years with 13 tackles, 5 tackles for loss and 4 sacks in two career games against the Gamecocks.

“You’ve always got to stay balanced, especially with a guy like Barnett,” Muschamp said. “He can change the game. We’ve got to account for him in everything. When you stay balanced, it’s very difficult on a defense because they’re sitting there thinking, ‘Okay, do I want to run a pass pressure or run an overload? If they run it the other way, we’ve got a problem.’ That’s why it’s so important to be balanced in what you do.”

In just 2-1/2 seasons, Barnett has 26 sacks, and 44.5 TFL for his career, putting him third in both categories on Tennessee’s all-time sacks list. Held without a sack in the Vols’ first three games, Barnett had six sacks in the last four games, including multi-sack performances against Florida and Georgia.

Barnett has already amassed 173 career tackles.

“Derek Barnett is a guy who obviously jumps off the film as far as the way he plays,” Muschamp said. "He’s an extremely good rusher and really plays the run well. He’s strong at the point of attack and a really good football player. He got into zone pressure against Texas A&M and carried (wide receiver) Josh Reynolds down the field. He made some money on that play. That was impressive.”

Preparing his team for the talented Vols, Muschamp has had the Gamecocks go ‘good vs. good’ (first team offense vs. first team defense) in practice this week, minimizing the use of a scout team. It’s something he wishes he had utilized more earlier in the season.

“We certainly will see much more about how far we’ve come Saturday night,” Muschamp said. “It’s so important for you to expose looks for your players to prepare them mentally for the game, and in order to do that you’ve got to rep it. So, we went together more (Tuesday) than we probably have all season as far as eliminating some scout reps and going strictly good-on-good work and fastball work. That’s how you get better.”

Considering the opponent, Bentley’s first career SEC start could be a memorable experience for the true freshman or, with Halloween only five days away, a nightmare.

Either way, Muschamp is not hesitating in tossing his young quarterback into the SEC fire.

“We have a lot of confidence in Jake and anybody we put on the field regardless of who they are and position concerned,” Muschamp said. “Tennessee has a good football team. We’ve got to give those guys credit. They have a dominating player in my opinion in Barnett. He’s the guy that can change games, and we need to account for him. They’ve recruited extremely well, and they’ve got good football players. It’s a typical SEC game. We’ve got to go play well, approach well and prepare the right way.”

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